Shipping-tag.



T. I. HART.

SHIPPING TAG.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 27. 1914.

1,155,566. Patented Oct. 5, 1915.

ZZz zea-ses: jive/c8023 my invention will THOMAS I. HART, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

. SHIPPING-TAG.

Specification of Letters'Patent.

Patented Oct. 5, 1915.

' Application filed June 27, 1914. Serial No. 847,737.

Zh'allwhom it may concern: t p a i Be itknow'n that I, THOMAS I. Hanna citizen of the United States, residingat' 'St. Louis, 1 Missouri, have "invented certain new I and useful Improvement in Shipping- Tags, of which the following is a full, clear, andexact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same:

This invention relates to shipping tags, and'hasfor its main object to provide a tag having an inexpensive and eflicient attaching device that will not break and thus permit thetag to become detachedfr'omthe objeot to which it is applied. v

Another object isto provide a tag having an attaching device which is so designed that anypulling-strains on the tag tends to draw the locking portion of the device moi'e tightly into engagementwiththe pmwah which it cooperates. And still another obl is to provide an attaching device th g can be applied. to the tag easily andalso attached easily to anobject and in" such a man ner that the locking portion of same is protected'in such a way that there is no liability of its pullingloose. a

be hereinafter pointed out. I

"Briefly stated, ny inventionconsists in a; tag provided with attaching device that comprises a body portion which can be doubled or folded over after it has been inbody portion that is adapted to be inserted serted through a loop, band or other similar device on the object to which'atag' isito be applied, and-a tongue on one end ofsaid through the tag and thereafter doubled back and interlaced through cooperating open ings in the body portion, so'as to secure the free end of said body portion and also con nect said body portion to thetag. j p

Figure 1 of the drawings is a perspective View of a shipping tag provided with my improved attaching device.

edge view of said tag 'ai'idgdevice' partly in section, showing the n anne'r of connecting the tag to the body portion of the device.

Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the free end of thebody portion of the device ,se-

cured by the tongue or reduced eitension on one end of said body portion; andFig.

4 is anedge View illustrating my device applied to a tag provided with two holes or eyelets.

Other objects and desirable features or The attac'hing device is preferablyformed from a fiat strip of metal and comprises a body portion A, which is provided at one end with an integral tongue or reduced extension B that serves tokconnect the tag to the body portion A and also to secure the free end of said body portion after it has been been engaged with the object that is to betagged. At one end of the body ortion A is a hole 1 and adjacent the point where the tongue B joins said body portion is a hole 2, said hole being so proportioned that the tongue B can be inserted through same. In using the device the tongue B is inserted through a hole or eyelet 3 in a tag C, and then bent over and inserted through the opening 2 in the body portion A of the device, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, thus securelyconn'eoting the device to'the tag C. When the tag is to be applied to an object D the body portion A of the device is slipped under a band, strand or similar member 4: on the object or inserted through an opening in the object and thereafter bent over or doubled, as shown in Fig. 3, so that the free end of the body portion A of the device will i "be arranged near enough to the tongue B to permit said tongue to be inserted through the opening 1 iii-said body portion and then doubled back or folded over so as to form a hook-shaped locking portion 5 that secures the freeend' of said body portion A, as

shown in Fig. '3. Thetongue B can either be slipped under the folded part of the body portion A and moved outwardly through the opening 1 in same, or it can be arranged in the manner shown in Fig. 3, namely, lappin-g over the free end of the body portion A and projecting inwardly through the opening 1 in same. I prefer to secure the free end of the body portion A in this manner, namely, have the tongue B lap over same and project inwardly through the opening 1 therein because this method of using the device eliminates the possibility of the hook-shaped locking'portion 5, namely,

the freeend of the tongue B becoming bent accidentally in such a way that itwill release the free end of the body portion'A of the device; a 1

\Vith a tag provided with an attaching device of the construction above described there is little liability of the tag becoming detached accidentally from the object to which it is applied, owing to the fact that the device consists of a. strong strip of may terial, preferably metal, that passes through the tag and through the object or a loop on same and whose end portions are securely interlocked with each other in such a way that there is little liability of their pulling apart accidentally. Any pulling strains on the'tag tend to draw the hook-shaped locking portion 5, namely, the bent endof the tongue B. more tightly into engagement with the free end of the body portion A of the device, and, as previously stated, said hook-shaped portion is arranged between two portions of the device that lap over same so that there is little liability of its catching on a projection or becoming bent in such a way that it will release the free end of the body portion A of the device.

In case the attaching device is used with a tag provided with a plurality of eyelets or openings 3 and 3 as shown in Fig. 4, the tongue B is made long enough so that it can be laced back and forth through both of said openings or eyelets and thereafter forced inwardly through the opening 1 in the body portion and bent over in the same manner previously described in connection with Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

In practice the attaching device is secured to the tag C in the manner illustrated in Fig. 1, and the complete article, namely, the tag and the attaching device, is furnished to the user so that when the tag is to be attached to an article or object it is only necessary to slip the body portion A of the device through a loop or hole in the object, then bend it over and thereafter secure the free end of same by means of the tongue B.

The device can be formed from any suitable kind of material, and while I prefer to form it from a flat strip of metal, I do not wish it to be understood that my invention is, limited to a device formed from sheet metal, or to a device in which the end portions of same are interlocked in the particular manner herein shown. The device is adapted for general use, or for connecting any kind of a tag to an object or article that is tobe tagged, but I have found the device particularly well adapted for attaching tags to bales of cotton,- owing to the fact that the device is so strong and is so securely locked to the bale that there is little tendency of the tag becoming accidentally detached from the bale, as so often occurs with the tag-attach ing devices now in general use, which usually consist of a piece of wire that is liable to break or twist loose if the tag is subjected to rough usage.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. An attaching device for shipping tags,

comprising a strip of metal having an opening intermediate the ends and a similar opening adjacent one end thereof, said end being doubled back toward the body portion of the strip so as to form a loop for engagement with the article being tagged, and an integral tongue at the other end of said strip adapted to engage the eye of a tag and the openings in said strip in succession so as to connect saiddoubled back end portion to said tongue and strip to said tag.

2. "the combination of a shipping tag provided with an eye, and an attaching device consisting of a flat strip of metal provided at one end with a reduced portion that engages the eye of said tag, the body portion of said strip being provided with an opening adjacent said reduced portion and a similar opening adjacent its opposite end. said opposite end being bent back toward the body portion so that said end lies adjacent the point where the reduced-portion joins the body 'portion,, said reduced portion engaging said first mentioned opening, extending across the end of said strip that is bent back upon the body portion and engaging the opening in said end, theendof said reduced portion lying between the bent back end portion and the body portion of said strip. 7

also secure said 3. A new article of manufacture consist- Y ing of a shipping tag provided at one end with an eye, a thin, flexible metallic strip having a main bodyportion terminating at one end in a reduced portion, and an opening adjacent the point where said reduced portion oins the main body portion of said strip, said reduced portion engaging the eve of said tag and said opening. said strip also having an opening adjacent its opposite end that is adapted to receive the projecting end of said reduced portion when the tag is attached to an article.

4:. As a new article of manufacture, a'

shipping tag provided with an eve and a removable attaching device consisting ofa thin strip'of metal having a reduced portion which engages said eve, said strip hav ing an opening therein to receive said re-- duced portion so as to securesaid strip to said tag. the free ends of the strip being provided with means whereby they maybe connected to form a closed loop,

In testimonv whereof I hereunto aflix'my Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. G." i a 

